The Oval Office sat quiet except for the tick of the grandfather clock and the faint rustle of papers under the desk lamp. The President stood near the Resolute Desk with his sleeves rolled up and his tie loosened as he held the phone to his ear with a bright tone that never reached his eyes. He paced between the rug and the windows with a smile that shifted every time the voice on the other end finished a sentence.
"Yes I saw the latest figures and they look promising," he said as he dragged his fingers across a stack of folders laid open on the desk, each one filled with numbers and reports about Gotham and the surrounding regions. "Your projections line up with the committee's expectations and that should help move things forward on our end."
He paused as the man spoke again and he nodded even though no one was there to see it. His smile widened and he leaned a hip against the desk. "Yes I understand and we will handle the authorisations just as you asked so there will be no delays on the transfer. The teams have confirmed the specimen has been secured and they assure me it is intact. It will be ready for delivery once the documents are signed and the chain of custody is finalised."
He lowered himself slowly into the office chair and spun it halfway toward the windows, the phone tucked between shoulder and ear as he thumbed through another file. "No we have not informed the oversight panel and we do not plan to. They will only complicate matters and we need this handled quietly and smoothly so there is no attention drawn to it." His voice dropped to a hush though the office was empty. "You will have full access once everything is arranged."
There was a short laugh from the President. "Gotham is moving along as you predicted and the contractors have already begun the early surveys. The public statements will be released on schedule and that should settle any unrest in the camps. The senators you mentioned have already agreed to back the proposal."
He leaned forward with his elbow on the desk and lowered his voice. "Everything is falling into place sir."
A knock at the door interrupted him and the door opened a crack and his secretary stepped in with a tablet clutched to her chest. She cleared her throat lightly. "Mr President," she said, "Superman is here to see you."
The President straightened in the chair and reached instinctively for his tie as he gave a small polite nod. He spoke into the phone again with that same bright tone. "I have to step away for the moment but it was good speaking with you Mr Luthor." He paused as the man responded. "Yes of course we will talk again soon."
He lowered the phone, ended the call, and let out a breath before he tightened his tie and smoothed his hair back with one hand. He looked toward the door where the secretary waited and gestured for her to bring Superman in. Said man stepped through the doorway when the secretary opened it wider and he moved across the carpet until he stood in front of the Resolute Desk. He offered the President a polite nod and folded his hands in front of him. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with me Mr President," he said with a smile.
President Ellis rose from his chair with a bright smile and reached out as if greeting an old friend he had not seen in years. "Nonsense," he said while moving around the desk, "you know you never have to thank me for anything and you know you can call me David." He clapped Superman on the arm and gestured toward the small sitting area near the windows. "Sit sit please sit. Can I get you anything to drink water tea coffee perhaps something stronger," he said while moving toward the credenza lined with bottles and glasses. "My chef makes an amazing pumpkin pie as well if you want something to eat it is a favourite around here."
Superman offered a warm smile though he lifted a hand in gentle refusal. "I appreciate the offer David but I should decline. I am hoping I will not need to take much of your time today."
The President gave a short laugh and waved off the concern as he ushered Superman toward one of the chairs. "I always have time for you Superman. Come sit down." He waited until Superman lowered himself into the seat and then he settled across from him with an attentive posture. "Now tell me what I can do for you. How can I help Americas greatest hero."
Superman held his polite smile but something inside him stiffened at the phrase Americas hero and it pressed against him in a way he did not enjoy. He never thought of himself that way. He thought of himself as someone who belonged to the world and who would protect anyone who needed it no matter the border and no matter the flag. He did not correct David though. He simply exhaled once and moved to the matter at hand.
"I came because rebuilding efforts are slowing down in Gotham and in the other cities that were hit," he said as he leaned forward slightly in his chair. "I came with a proposition that would hopefully benefit everyone." He paused for a moment, before taking a breath. "The Justice League and I are prepared to rebuild the homes and residential buildings at no cost to the government and no cost to the citizens as long as certain conditions are agreed upon." He shook his head once as if clearing the noise of other concerns. "We want the people who lived there before the attacks to be able to return to their homes without being priced out of their own neighborhoods. So what I am asking is that the government allow us to oversee the rebuilding and that the previous residents are allowed to take back their leases once the buildings are complete."
He paused to measure the words carefully then continued.
"I also want a restriction placed on all landlords and property owners so they cannot raise rent due to improved building conditions for at least five years and after those five years have passed they should not be allowed to increase the rents beyond the established market rate." He met the President's eyes and held the gaze without wavering. "I want to get as many people back to their lives as possible and I want them to have a home to return to. We will build the structures. We will cover the costs. That is all we ask. And while we do not require anything from the government we would gladly accept any support you are willing to offer," he said with a small hopeful smile that softened the end of his request.
The room fell still while he waited for the President's answer. The President rested his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers together while he fixed Superman with a look that Superman had seen before and didn't like one bit. He drew a slow breath and leaned back in his chair while he smoothed one hand across his tie and let the other fall loosely to the armrest.
"It is a complicated situation," he said with a scrunched up face. "We are dealing with national budgets and international aid agreements and private partnerships that were set in motion long before any of us anticipated an event of this scale. Decisions of this magnitude require coordination across multiple departments and oversight committees and we cannot shift control of entire cities without a long process that ensures stability and continuity. I understand your intentions and I respect them but this involves more than just rebuilding homes. It involves long term strategies for economic recovery, job creation and national security. These things must be considered carefully and handled through the proper channels."
Superman listened in silence despite the fact he wanted to jump in. He waited until the President stopped then spoke with a calm voice that had an almost dangerous tone to it. "Millions of people lost everything Mr President. They are living in camps and shelters and some of them have not slept in a real bed in months. They are waiting for help and they do not have time for long processes. We can rebuild their homes now and give them their lives back now. I am not asking for control. I am asking for the chance to help them."
The President nodded as if he understood. "I hear you," he said, "and I care about every citizen who is suffering but I have to look at the big picture. The country is under strain and the economy is fragile and if we move too quickly we risk making decisions that create long term problems. We have private investors prepared to take on this burden and they will commit resources that the government cannot. If we disrupt those arrangements we risk slowing everything down and the nation cannot afford that."
Superman's brows tightened and he sat forward in his chair. "People are not burdens. They are not obstacles to a strategy David... There are families living in tents and school gyms and they are waiting for help while companies fight over who gets to profit from the land under their homes. You say you care but you are not listening to them. You are listening to people who see opportunity instead of suffering."
Ellis held up a hand in a calming gesture while he inhaled through his nose and released the breath slowly. "You are letting emotion guide you and there is nothing wrong with compassion but governing a nation requires balance. We cannot dismiss private partners who already have contracts in motion. They are prepared to rebuild at a scale that we cannot match without damaging the national budget. The country needs stability and we cannot jeopardize that."
Superman stared at him for a long moment. Then he spoke again with a quieter tone that cut deeper than any raised voice.
"Who is paying you?"
The President stiffened as if struck. His eyes widened a fraction then narrowed. "I will not dignify that with an answer and I will not accept accusations without basis. I serve the people of this country and no one else."
Superman listened but not to the president, his words weren't worth the air they used. Instead he listened to the heartbeat under the man's ribs that had jumped up at the question. It stumbled and tripped and then raced with the uneven rhythm of someone caught in a lie. Superman sat back slowly and the sorrow in his eyes settled. "People believed in you," he said with a voice that carried no anger only disappointment. "They voted for you because they thought you would stand with them. I thought so too. I even voted for you."
The President opened his mouth as if to answer but Superman was already rising from his chair. He took one step back then another and he offered the President a small nod that held nothing of hope and nothing of trust.
He turned and left the Oval Office without another word while the door closed behind him.
...
Lex Luthor ended the call the moment President Ellis said he needed to go. After which the polite smile he had worn for the duration of the conversation died so fast it looked as if someone had cut it from his face with a knife. He leaned back in his chair and let out a low scoff that curled upward into a thin laugh. "President Ellis... a man with the spine of warm wax," he said while he pinched the bridge of his nose. "A mind that strains under the weight of its own mediocrity. I would have more luck negotiating with a sedated mule. This democracy truly excels at elevating the least capable among its citizens to positions of authority."
Mercy Graves stood at his right in her dark suit with her hands clasped behind her back and an unreadable wxpression on her face while she waited for him to finish.
"He bends at every gust of political wind," Lex went on, waving one hand in a slow circle as if stirring the air. "No conviction, no clarity, no intellectual rigor. A creature of polls and donors and public relations. If he were any more malleable he would drip off the chair he sits in."
Mercy tilted her head slightly. "Did you get what you were looking for."
Lex's irritation smoothed into a satisfied smirk. "Of course. Even a dull tool can be made useful when held properly. They will be sending the specimen today."
Mercy gave a single nod. Lex rose from his desk with a smooth motion, straightened his cuffs, and walked toward the private elevator at the end of the office. The panel on the wall scanned his eyes with a click while a second scanner swept over Mercy. The doors opened and the two stepped inside. The descent lasted only a few seconds before they reached the bottom. When the doors opened they stepped out into a vast sub-basement that spread as far as the eye could see. Rows of workstations stretched across the chamber like the grid of a small city. Engineers and technicians moved between them carrying tablets and components while robotic arms lowered parts into sealed chambers. Sparks flashed from welding bays. Tanks bubbled with chemicals. Giant screens streamed lines of data while teams worked in clusters under harsh white lights.
As Lex and Mercy moved forward the nearest group of researchers spotted them and hurried over in a wave.
"Mr Luthor we have updates on the armor integration trials—"
"Sir the bioweapon prototype is entering phase two we have preliminary—"
"LexCorp drone fleet recalibration is ahead of schedule if you approve the—"
They crowded in from all sides, each one trying to speak over the others.
"Swarming like ants," Lex said under his breath with a curl of disgust.
One reached too close and Lex lifted a hand with a flat gesture that cut them all off at once. "Not today. I am occupied. You will send your reports through the proper channels and I will review them when I require them. Clear a path."
They stepped back at once and he walked through the gap with Mercy at his shoulder. They passed rows of weapons sealed behind transparent alloy panels, racks of armored suits waiting for testing, banks of servers humming with encrypted streams. The projects grew more restricted the farther they went until the noise of the floor faded into an echo behind them. At the very back of the chamber stood a separate structure enclosed in walls of tungsten and titanium thick enough to stop anything short of a nuclear bomb. The door slid open after another brief scan and Lex stepped inside.
A single man stood over a wide metal desk covered in notes and instruments. His white coat brushed the floor and his thin glasses sat low on his nose while he examined a vial of something pale and viscous under a lamp.
Lex clasped his hands behind his back. "Dr Juice," he said. "I hope you have good news for me."
Dr Juice spun around so fast his coat flared like a curtain caught in a draft. His eyes were wide and bloodshot and his grin stretched across his face in a way that made even Mercy shift her weight a little.
After the disaster at Wayne Tower he had been a ghost in the science world, drifting between low level jobs and blacklisted research posts. Armstrong had fucked up that mess with the bioandroids, he had believed for a moment that he was standing on the edge of history. Then the alien boy the Viltrumite hybrid had activated the kill switch and every one of the Doctor's creations had been destroyed. Armstrong died in the fight with Mark and Dr Juice had been left alone with his ruined work and the knowledge that he had failed.
Then Lex Luthor had found him.
Juice had refused at first, clutching at the scraps of pride he still had, but Lex had offered him something he could not turn down. Resources. Freedom. Protection. A lab without oversight and a project that tapped into every obsession he had buried under years of failures. Lex also offered him something he couldn't refuse. Unknown to most people two of the androids had survived; during the fight between Armstrong and Invincible the control panel which controlled the kill switch was destroyed at 98% leaving them alive.
Dr Juice rushed across the room now with his hands shaking and his voice cracking. "Is it here did you get it did you actually get it did they send it tell me they sent it I need to see it show me show me show me—"
Mercy stepped between them and shoved him back by the collar. Juice stumbled two steps then froze in place while Lex calmly took out a folded handkerchief and wiped the places where Juice had touched him.
"Yes Doctor," Lex said while he tucked the cloth away. "I have it. The helicopter is already en route with the remaining bioandroid assets. They will arrive by the end of the day."
Dr Juice clapped his hands together and let out a high laugh that cracked into two different pitches. "They survived they actually survived I thought that damn alien wiped everything I thought it was all gone I thought I was done I thought they were gone forever—"
"Yes yes," Lex said with a flick of his hand. "Rejoice as you wish." His tone made it clear he had no interest in any of it.
Juice paced in quick circles while mumbling thanks until Lex cleared his throat once. The Doctor stopped mid-step as if someone had cut the string holding him up.
"Now," Lex said. "The project."
Dr Juice straightened his coat and pushed his glasses up his nose with both hands. His manic energy dimmed only slightly. "Yes of course the project the project is progressing well all subjects remain stable all markers remain consistent though I must note again that the accelerated development does introduce structural weakness down the line and should they be deployed too early the—"
Lex began walking and Juice fell into place beside him while Mercy followed in silence. The walls of the lab widened into a long chamber where the lights glowed pale and even. Dozens of thick tanks lined the room in two facing rows. Each tank was filled with clear nutrient fluid that churned in slow spirals from the circulation vents. Inside each tank floated a figure suspended in the center with arms slightly raised and heads tilted forward as though listening to something in the water.
Silver letters were etched into the bases of the tanks.
PROJECT V-01
Each tank carried its own number beneath that title.
Lex folded his hands behind his back while he walked past them. "You worry about strength loss in the early models," he said.
"I do," Juice replied. "The accelerated growth forces cellular compromise and the muscles form quicker than intended and the bones lag and the brain maps with erratic jumps though still functional though not ideal but they will be viable subjects in due time."
Lex tilted his head as he stopped before one of the central tanks where the figure inside floated in perfect stillness. "I am willing to accept the diminished quality," he said. "As long as they will be ready soon."
Dr Juice's grin returned. "Yes Mr Luthor they will be ready soon."
Lex's eyes narrowed with quiet satisfaction as he looked down the long row of tanks.
Mark Grayson.
Nolan Grayson.
Rows of them.
Lex Luthor smiled.
(AN: Sounds like Lex Luthor is up to something Nefarious, and he has the help of Dr juice. Anyway androids are here too which I'm sure some of you can guess the two that are going to appear. Anyway hope you enjoyed it.)
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